The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I. “Don’t let your HEART be TROUBLED.” (14:1, 27)
A. WORRY: Part of the HUMAN CONDITION (16:33, Gen. 3)
B. The OPPOSITE of Worry: TRUST (14:2)
C. The WAY out of WORRY (14:6, 1 Peter 5:7, Matt. 6:25-33)
II. “BELIEVE also in ME.” (14:2)
A. The TRUTH about GOD
B. The TRUTH about OURSELVES
C. The FREEDOM of the Truth (John 8:32)
III. “So that where I am YOU MAY BE ALSO.” (14:3)
A. Less a PLACE and More of a PRESENCE (14: 23, Luke 17:21)
B. A Picture of the GOOD LIFE (14:19, 23; Gen. 2; Psalm 1)
C. LOOKING to JESUS (14:7-11, Hebrews 12:1-3)
Questions for Further Reflection…
- Kid Question: Who is the person you trust most in the world?
- What has been your understanding of the phrase, “The Way, the Truth, and the Life”?
- What is your primary worry in this life?
- What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
- Have you ever experienced the freedom that the truth brings? Share about that experience with someone.
- Is being with Jesus something you look forward to eventually or seek to experience daily? What changes would have to take place for you to see this as a daily endeavour?
- What is the good life? According to the world? According to Jesus? According to you (if you’re honest)?
- What are different ways that you can “set your eyes on Jesus”?
The commandment of absolute truthfulness is really only another name for the fullness of discipleship. Only those who follow Jesus and cleave to Him are living in absolute truthfulness. Such men have nothing to hide from their Lord. He knows them and has placed them in a state where truth prevails. They cannot hide their sinfulness from Jesus; for they have not revealed themselves to Jesus, but He has revealed Himself to them by calling them to follow Him. At the moment of their call Jesus showed up their sin and made them aware of it. Absolute truthfulness is possible only where sin has been uncovered, that is to say, where it has been forgiven by Jesus. Only those who in a state of truthfulness through the confession of their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told. The truthfulness which Jesus demands from his followers is the self-abnegation which does not hide sin. Nothing is then hidden, everything is brought forth to the light of day.
In this question of truthfulness, what matters first and last is that a man’s whole being should be exposed, his whole evil laid bare in the sight of God. But sinful men do not like this sort of truthfulness, and they resist it with their might. That is why they persecute it and crucify it. It is only because we follow Jesus that we can be genuinely truthful, for then He reveals to us our sin upon the cross. The cross is God’s truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth.